Erste Asset Management GmbH Makes New $550,000 Investment in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA)

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 16,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,669,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $132,823,000 after purchasing an additional 31,894 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 68.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 36,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 14,704 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 434.3% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 39,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 32,135 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 445,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,135,000 after purchasing an additional 24,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sasco Capital Inc. CT boosted its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 501,530 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,150,000 after purchasing an additional 27,420 shares during the last quarter. 98.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Axalta Coating Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Axalta Coating Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

Insider Transactions at Axalta Coating Systems

In other news, insider Troy D. Weaver sold 10,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.57, for a total value of $392,869.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,814,180.85. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Axalta Coating Systems Stock Performance

Shares of AXTA stock opened at $34.44 on Friday. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 12 month low of $30.41 and a 12 month high of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.65.

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Axalta Coating Systems

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-performance coatings systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings.